


Papa Bird

by DustyTales



Series: Ghost on the Dance Floor [6]
Category: Nightwing (Comics), Titans (TV 2018), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Family Fluff, Father's Day, M/M, Romani Dick Grayson, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 15:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19232308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustyTales/pseuds/DustyTales
Summary: This year is Dick's first Father's Day since his falling out with BruceBut it's also his first Father's Day since becoming a father himself





	Papa Bird

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a slut for both found family stories and Dick Grayson being a total dad  
> No one should be surprised I brought this into the world

Being a police officer had its up and down sides. Dick loved his job, there's nothing else he'd rather do in the world, even if he came home a little beat up from time to time. Dick was used to stitches and grisly scenes, so the thing that ended up bothering him the most was his schedule. His days off were pretty sporadic, and every few weeks he even had to work a full weekend.

Thus Dick dragged himself out of bed at 5:30 on a Sunday morning, shutting his alarm off hurriedly so as not to wake the rest of the house. As he gently disentangled himself from Wally's arms, the speedster sturred, grumbling. Dick smiled fondly as his partner, who groped out for Dick's pillow, pulling it close and nuzzling into its warmth.

Dick pressed a quick kiss to the redhead's temple with a muttered "Love you, Walls" before slipping out of their bedroom.

It took several cups of coffee for Dick to feel even remotely human at this hour, sipped leisurely at his third cup as he finished his cereal. He checked his calendar on his phone as his brain finally came back online:

 

**June 16th**

_ Meeting with Gordon at 6:30 _

_ Last day to pay for Garth's band camp _

**Father's Day**

 

He hummed to himself thoughtfully at the reminder of Father's Day. There was a time in his life when he would have planned flowers to be sent to his adopted father on this day, but not anymore.

Bruce had never really deserved the title father at all, if Dick was honest, he just hadn't seen the light until he was an adult. Bruce had been his guardian, but he had not been his father, the very idea was insulting to Dick's late dad.

The detective felt his heart clench at the thought of his parents. He found himself wishing he'd never left Gotham than, knowing taking flowers to his father's grave today would be too impractical now that he was a city away.

Dick sighed as he downed the rest of his coffee. 

"I'm sorry,  _ Dadrus _ . I'll visit soon. Promise."

 

Dick took his motorcycle to work today, leaving the van he'd never admit he was growing attached to with Kori and the kids. Pulling on his helmet and riding leathers made Dick feel like a teenager again, smiling to himself, despite his dower mood, at the familiar feeling of his fingerless gloves. He could feel eyes on him as he rode to work, but he found women openly ogling him didn't bring the same thrill it used to.

As Dick pulled up to the precinct, he snorted to himself, remarking that he had really gone soft recently.

Yet he argued with himself as he pulled off his helmet and combed a few fingers through his hair.  _ Soft is bad word choice,  _ he decided,  _ a lot has changed these past few months, and there are things about the journey I'd change, but not where we ended up. _

With that positive thought, Dick entered the building, a small lingering smile still tugging at his lip.

Dick slipped into the locker room just long enough to stash his gear, throwing a quick wave at his newest coworker, Gannon.

"What's with the fetish gear?" Malloy asked, cocking his eyebrow as Dick pulled off his leather jacket.

Dick just snorted. "I resent that, riding leathers aren't all for show. It's basically all that keeps me from ending up a bloody smear on the pavement if someone knocks me off my bike."

"Since when do you have a  _ motorcycle? _ " Malloy asked incredulously.

Dick glared at him, but there was no heat behind the look. He'd actually grown to like Gannon, and a few of his other coworkers, loath as he was to admit it.

"Since always, I'm just not schlepping the damn kids to school for once," Dick answered with an exaggerated eye roll, "I haven't gotten a take my baby for a spin in God knows how long."

The blonde snorted as the two exited the locker room. "Driving to work isn't much of a "spin", but I'll let you have this one, Grayson."

Dick had another sarcastic retort on his tongue, but it died in his mouth when the pair rounded the corner. Several men were crowded around Dick's desk, and the only thought Dick's sleep-deprived brain could supply was 'someone's about to get on your ass again.'

" _ Ninorocit!"  _ Dick swore under his breath as he hurried to see what the commotion was about.

"I'm just gonna assume that means something bad," Malloy commented, but followed behind Dick nonetheless.

Dick just grunted. He had a tendency to float between languages when he was tired, but at least Malloy's ribbing was good natured. 

" _ Grayson!"  _ One of the assembled officers called, grin wide and arms spread in an exaggerated fashion. It took Dick a second to recall his name.

"Excuse me if I don't trust your tone, Abbot."

"Cruel, Papa bird, absolutely cruel," another vollied, though this man's name escaped Dick.

He blinked rapidly at the nickname; He didn't think  _ anyone _ had ever called him that before.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

It was Amy who came to Dick's rescue, "Alright, alright, break it up! Gordon's gonna be here any minute and he won't care for your slacking!"

That seemed to get everyone into gear, the other officers scattering until only Dick and his partner were left at his desk.

Before Dick could ask Amy what the hell everyone was on about, he saw: he had some sort of… delivery? Though the package remained sealed, someone had opened the attached envelope.

He cocked an eyebrow as he unfolded his (now compromised) letter, the smooth cursive immediately giving Rachel away.

 

_ Dear Dick, _

_ I hope you didn't really think we'd forget about you on Father's Day! _

_ I don't wanna think about where we'd be if you hadn't taken us under your wings, Papa Bird. I know we haven't been the easiest to get along with, and this sure as hell isn't the life any of us had planned, but I hope we make you as happy as you make us. _

_ Before I met you I really thought it was all over, but you taught me it's never too late to turn yourself around, even when it feels like you've gone too far. _

_ It's never going to be easy. None of us are normal. But as long as we're not normal together, I think we can get by. _

_ With love, _

_ Rachel _

 

Dick could feel his heart in his throat, and it was only realizing there was a second sheet of paper that forced him to swallow down his emotions and keep reading. The rough sprawl told him immediately it was Garfield.

 

_ Rach is better at words than me, but it seemed wrong to let her speak for us both. _

_ I really never thought I'd get another chance to have a family with how messed up I am. But even on my worst nights, when I leave you scratched and bleeding, you're still there in the morning. _

_ I never thought I'd stop waking up afraid of being left behind. But here we are. _

_ Thanks, Dad. _

 

  * __Gar__



 

 

Something about being so openly called "dad" had Dick choking up. Dick was their guardian, sure, but on some level he felt like that was all he was. Like that was all he was  _ qualified  _ to be. He was only 23, barely an adult, barely even able to be a  _ person  _ half the time.

But as Dick opened the box that had been left on his desk and saw the gift the two teens had gotten for him, Dick had never felt more like a proud father in his life.

As the bubble wrap was carefully peeled away, a soft, pristine picture frame of Robin red velvet was revealed. Dick felt tears spring in his eyes as he looked down at the photo in his hands.

It had been taken pretty recently, after Garfield's last band concert. Dick had taken them all out for ice cream afterwards, and Wally had insisted on snapping a selfie of them all.

Wally had been holding the camera, his long arm reaching out of frame, with the other arm slung around Dick's shoulders. Dick's other arm was around Gar, still in his uniform, grinning a wide and genuine smile that Dick was glad they had captured. Rachel was on Gar's other side flashing a peace sign at the camera, with Kori behind the girl and her head resting on top of Rachel's.

Dick blinked back tears as he lovingly stroked the soft velvet of the frame. They looked like a  _ family.  _ A  _ real one.  _ Somehow, some way, Dick had stumbled into the family he had always wanted.

Dick raised his eyebrows as he plucked a small piece of paper from the corner of the frame. He unfolded it to find Rachel's handwriting again:

 

_ Now you get to join the club of "dads with pictures of their kids on their desks." It's an important right of passage. _

 

Dick's slight chortle at this statement caused a few of his tears to burst free, and he was forced to set the frame on his desk as he hurriedly wiped them away.

"You know," Amy said from behind him, causing Dick to nearly jump from his skin, "everyone here used to think you were so scary and mysterious. Tough guy Dick Grayson who didn't need anybody for anything. But this new sniffling sentimental dad Grayson has really ruined that illusion."

"Oh, shut it Rohrbach," Dick grunted at her, running a hand over his face, "Don't you have a meeting to prepare for?"

She smiled fondly at him as she headed back to her own desk. "Don't you?"

"Yeah…" Dick grumbled back. He carefully cleared a place utop his messy desk to set the frame, stashing the letters safely in the one drawer of his desk with a lock.

He had gotten up this morning feeling nothing but contempt and grief for Father's Day, but as he gazed down at the smiling faces now brightening his desk, he couldn't help but smile back at them.

"Gordon may just have to wait."

 


End file.
